Envelop-fastener.



Unirse Starts Patented .April 1905.

PATENT Ormea.

ENvELoP-FASTENEP..

SPECXFICATON forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,692, dated .April 4;, 1905.

Application filed January 5, 1904. Serial No. 187,839.

To f/.ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGNE JOSEPH Srnvu- NOT, a citizen of Belgium, residing at Davisville, in the county of Yolo and State of California, have invented a new and useful Envelop-Fastener, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying' drawings.

This invention relates to the sealing of envelops or such cases or wrappers as are ordinarily made of paper and used for inclosing letters, documents, and other matter of greater or less intrinsic value and relative importance.

It is faniiliarly known that letter-envelops,

for instance, are for the inost part sealed simply by gumming or sticking together the flaps with which they are formed. rlhis affords but little protection, as a clever operator who has an opportunity and the desire to do so will steam the sealing-gum, and after opening the envelop and reading or abstracting its contents he can easily restore it to its closed, apparently normal, condition with the aid of a little paste or mucilage without the slightest fear of detection. vWax and other seals of course are sometimes used instead of or in addition to the gum; but these seals are objectionable in that they are more or less eX- pensive, inconvenient to apply, and not proof against imitation and substitution.

The main object of this invention therefore is to provide an improved sealing or fastening means for envelops, &c., that will not have the defects above noted, but which, on the contrary, is simple, economical, easily applied, and absolutely secure to the extent that it cannot fail to indicate any attempt to meddle with it.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows a convenient form of envelop for the application of this improved fastener. The envelop is there seen in an inverted positionthat is to say, with the under side uppermost-- and open, the sealing-Hap being outwardly eX- tended. Fig. 2 is a view similar to the preceding, but shows the envelop closed with the fastener thereto applied. Fig. 3 represents a group of fasteners of special manufacture and design in which the invention is embodied, the several fasteners being shown in plan, edge view, bottom view, and side elevation. Figs. 4:, 5, and 6 illustrate one method of manufacturing the fastener. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a iinished fastener made according to this method.

Like letters of reference, wherever they occur, designate like parts throughout the drawings and specification.

The envelop may be made of any suitable quality of paper and of any required size from the smallest to the largest. lt may also be fashioned according to any of the several modes or processes of manufacture commonly followed in producing paper envelops. A convenient method to employ, however, is to make the envelop as illustrated in Figs. l and 2, wherein it is shown as consisting of a main body portion (marked A) and four integral iaps B, C, D, and E, respectively formed at the ends and sides thereof. This allows the envelop to be made of single blank or paper sheet and facilitates its folding preparatory to incasing or wrapping the object which it is designed to contain. The edges of the aforesaid iiaps may or may not be guinmed, as preferre l. However, itis useful to secure them to one another by mucilage or some similar adhesive substance in the usual manner, the same being applied, as at F in Fig. l, so that the flap D will overlap and firmly hold the two ilaps B and C adjoining it, and the iiap E can be turned down and pasted upon all three of them in the position indicated at Fig. 2. lVhen their edges are not gummed, the several iaps are simply held together by means of the fastener hereinafter described. Through each one of the flaps B, C, D, and E is made a small slit, as G, at such a point in each that when the four flaps are folded and brought together the four slits therein will coincide or register, so as to constitute a continuous aperture for the passage of the stem of a T-shaped fastener H, which fastener is detailed in Figs. 3 and 7 and consists of a strip of thin sheet metal doubled upon itself. This fastener it is understood is inserted and secured in place by introducing it under the three combined lower aps B C D, with its head turned toward the side A of the envelop, then passing its stem or prongs through the slits of all four flaps,

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and linalljv sin'eading apart the prongs upon the outside ot' the top l'lap lll, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The aforesaid fastener made frangible te the extent that one or both of its prongs will bear bending once, but will not withstand a second flexure. lhus the fastener' can have its two prongs turned down on opposite sides to close the envelop; but when that has been done the prongs, or one of them, will break at the second bending if an attempt is made to reseal. It would be plainly evident in any such case that some one had tamiiered with the envelop, as the fact could not be concealed. ln order to al'lord an additional safeguard, the fastener may be made in different colors, used singly or in combinaon, as may be desired. llig exhibits several such fasteners, the conventional shading whereof respectively i'e presents purple, green, red, and blue; butall col Ors, plain or blended, can likewise be ein ployed. By adopting a colored fastener of this type distinct from what may be chosen by others a person carrying on correspondence of a confidential nature will thus be better enabled guard against substitution. To further insure safe sealing. this invention contemplates also the use of identifying' characters, of which the crescent and star (shown in Fig. 3) are but suggestive examples, and which characters, previously selected and agreed on between correspondents, can be impressed or formed on any suitable part of the fastenerWM for instance, upon its hean--which goes inside the envelop when sealing. rilhesc characters, particularly when formed by hand and judiciously located, will afi'ord as in uch protection against the fraudulent replacing the fastener as any privat-einark on a check, draft, or money-order ail'ords against forgery.

The desired frangibility of the fastener can be had in two ivaysweither chemically, by making the fastener of a suitable alloy, or mechanically, by making a slight incision in the side of one prong or both prongs thereof, in the manner presently to be described. The latter way of rendering the fasti-nier suitably frangible or breakable is preferred. Any metal that bends may be used.

One method of forming the fastener and inu eising it for the purpose stated is illustrated in Figs. l to (i. The method contemplates the making of a number ol' fastenersf'say one hundred or a gross or other desired quantity-- from a continuous bar or strip of the chosen metal or coi'nbination of metals. 'lhe lirst step in carryii'ig out the said method or process of manufacture. which of course implies pulling', pushing', or conveying' and leading the meta-l strip by any approved means. consists in taking from the strip and doubling up the metal needed to make the required size of fastener, which is conveniently accomplished by looping the strip at or near one end with a pair of jaws l J, as indicated in Fig. is shown in this ligure, the jaws are provided on their opposite upper edges with sharp narrow blades l, one to each, which blades bear each on one side of the doubled end ol' the strip and g'rasp a sufcient length or section thereof between them, respectively, to form the head and prongs of the fastener, the metal above the blades making a loop which upon being pressed down will produce the head and the two thicknesses of metal below the same being' held more or less close together between the jaws and destined to constitute the prongs after full compression one upon the other and separation from the strip. The jaws l J operate directly under a hammer L, which may aid in forming the loop. rllhe second step (illustrated in Fig. 5) involves the crushing of the loop to convert it into the fastener-head, which is very simply effected by driving or forcing down the hammer L upon the looped metal while it is held by and between tlie jaws ll J and their blades K. Fig. i3 illustrates the third step, consisting' in the incision of the fastener just below the head, preferably on both sides thereof-that is to say, in the outer side of each prong at the point whei'e the same joins the head. lt is sufllcient to incise slightly either prong to cause its breal-:age ata second bending or upon its being' restraightened after the lirst bending', provided the incision be made squarely in the side of the prong, as indicated at M, llig. 7. Both prongs are thus shown out into or incised in the last-named figure, as it is deemed to be the preferable way of practicing the invention, although one incision in either prong may answer. No limitation of the invention, therefore, is intended in that resiiect. The incisions are made, as shown in Fig. 7, by bringing the jaws and blades a little closer together than they appear in the preceding views, advancing' either blade or both blades to cut to the requisite depth while the prongs are held or pressed together, and the fastener as a wholel is maintained in correct position. The metal used in forming the fastener may be severed from the strip at any suitable time and by any suitable means, either before, while, or after the incisions are made. As to the trimming of the prongs, they may be pointed, as represented at Nin Figs. 3 and 7, or rounded, as at in Fig. 3, or otherwise shaped. As also shown, 'the prongs may be of equal length or made one slightly longer than the other to facilitate the parting thereof in sealing an envelop, as may be preferred.

lt is understood that the illustration of the tools or mechanism employed for the performance of the several steps in the production of the fastener as above described is purely diagrammatical and not given as an eX- act representation of anything' that is made use of in practice. ilucli tools or mechanism can be varied indelii'iitely, and there is no de- The IIS'

subjoined claims, therefore, are made without reference to any tool or set of tools, mechanism or mechanisms, but rather are intended to cover the fastener per se as an improved article of manufacture.

JV hat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A fastener comprising a head, a prong, and a breakable bending portion, whereby the prong may be bent into a position parallel to the head and adapted to break at a subsequent bending.

2. A fastener comprising a head, a prong, and a weakened bending portion, permitting bending of the prong once only.

3. A fastener comprising a head,.a prong, and a transverse weakened bending portion, permitting bending of the prong once only.

et. Afastener comprising ahead and a prong, and a weakened connection between the two, permitting bending' of the prong once only.

5. A fastener comprising a head, a prong and a weakened connection between the two, permitting bending of the prong into parallelism with the head once only.

6. A fastener comprising a head and a prong, and a transverse weakened connection between the two permitting bending of the prong once only.

7 A fastener com prising ahead and a prong normally projecting at substantially right angles relative thereto, and a relatively weakened portion in the crotch between the members.

8. A fastener comprising a head and a prong having an incision in one of its surfaces perniitting bending' of the prong once only.

9. Afastener comprisinga head and an elongated flat-surface prong having an incision in one of its surfaces permitting bending' of the prong once only.

10. Abrealable fastener comprisinga head, and a prong normally arranged at substantially right angles relative thereto and adapted to be bent into a position parallel to the head, and a portion of the same arranged to snap off should an attempt be made to rebend the same to its normal position.

11. A metallic fastener comprising a head and a prong normally projecting at substatitially right angles relative thereto and adapted to be bent into a position substantially parallel to the head, said prong having an incision extending from side to side of one of its sur-- faces whereby the same will break at a snbse quent bending.

ln testimony whereof l aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EUG. J. sravniio'r. [1.. e]

Witnesses:

LOUIS Kemna, J. ETIENNE. 

